Friday, August 24, 2012

So, now that Claire is living in a world without borders, life has been a tad on the interesting side.

She's done pretty good about staying in her bed at bed time -- well, sorta. She's at least stop coming out of her room 40 times at night.

But before I head to work (ya know, the basement) each day, I poke my head in and check on the girls. And ever since Claire's learned of her new-found freedom, she's decided she likes it better in Grace's bed.

Sometimes she's curled up at the foot of the bed with Grace's feet in her face. Sometimes Grace allows her to sleep next to her.

Both ways are SUPER cute.

I would love to show you a picture, but there's no way in this world that I'm going to risk waking up my beauties while they are sleeping.

Friday, August 17, 2012

When the girls were about five months old, I was able to sit them next to each other, be silly enough to get both of them to smile and snap their picture.

Then we hit a stretch starting at about one year until recently that they absolutely 100 percent refused to be in the same picture at the same time. And if you, by chance, were lucky enough to convince them to sit next to each other, you were most certainly not getting both of them to smile.

Now, when I tell them I'm going to get the camera, I return to them doing some version of this:

P.S. You may wonder why they are pantless. Then again, if are lucky enough to have a two-year-old in your life, you may not. Some days it's just not worth the fight.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

I used to steal my sister's clothes. Well, not really steal. Just borrow. She went to school earlier than I did, so I'd wait until she left the house, rummage through her closet and pick out my shirt for the day. Then, when I got home, I'd zip my jacket up to my chin and quickly make my way to the bathroom where I would switch shirts and quietly put hers back in her closet.

Fool proof plan, I tell ya. Until the day I forgot my jacket. But that's a story for another day.

My point is that sisterly love is a love unlike any other. A few summers back before my sister and I were married, we watched this movie. Not your typical A-list movie, but still it was charming and heartwarming -- about two sisters who grew old together. We always joked that if things didn't work out with our beaus, we could totally be the lavender ladies.

And don't even get me started on our little sister. I could go on for days about how much I love her. When she was a baby, I'd sit and hold her for what seemed like hours. I'd tell her my troubles (10-year-olds have a lot of troubles, ya know), sing to her, kiss her beautiful little head, all the while looking forward to the day I could really talk to her.

Now she's a grown woman and I cherish her all the same. She's a bright spot in my life and I love her to the moon and back.

Now, I don't want to leave out my brothers -- I love them just as much, but that's a post for another time as well. Brotherly love is full of jokes, sarcasm and what we like to call "stretching." That's where your little brother annoys you so much, that you and your sister each grab an end and try to stretch him. Too bad for him, it didn't work out. He's a touch on the short side.

ANYWAY. Stop distracting me.

Back to what I was saying about sisterly love. I try to foster it as much as I can in between the kicks and hits and spits, but some days it feels like an uphill battle.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

At nap time, Claire climbed out of her crib, opened the door to her bedroom and came and found me. On the one hand, I should feel lucky for making it this long. My 16-month-old niece has already made the move to a big girl bed, and I'm sitting here at 2.5 years with kiddos who only recently discovered the freedom that lives about three feet below them.

Monday, August 13, 2012

When someone suggests to Grace that she do something she's not interested in doing, she'll scream "KA-AH!" And she usually follow it with your name.

"Grace, you need to pick up those oranges you just threw on the floor."

"KA-AH, Mama!"

The tone makes me think she is saying something similar to shut up/screw you/knock it off. Or some combination of all three.

For a long time we joked that if we knew what she was saying when she put her hand on her hip and yelled something incomprehensible, we'd be washing her mouth out with soap.

But after hearing her yell KA-AH! to her dad multiple times in one day, I've made a new decision. I may not know what you're saying, little one, but I know that it's unacceptable. The tone, the hip, the lip -- it's all gotta go.

Our Family

On Dec. 26, 2009, our lives were forever changed with the birth of our twin daughters -- Grace and Claire. Five years later, we rocked our world again with the birth of our son, Henry. Each day brings new adventures: we relish the good ones, survive the bad ones and hope that we're teaching our kiddos something along the way.